Advice for first trip to London with kids please

[wescarebecausewecare]

Hi, I've been searching through old posts on here trying to get ideas for a first trip to London with 2 dc (7 and 8) but I am struggling to plan as I don't know London at all - eg, where places are in relation to each other!
I am thinking of 5 days, 4 nights. The first 2 nights near Legoland Windsor, then we would make our way into London on the morning of our third day. I have booked the Harry Potter Studio tour for the afternoon of the third day. Then I plan on booking Matilda the Musical for the evening of the fourth day. Fly home on fifth day, not sure what time at yet.
Other things I am looking at are the Shrek adventure, the Aquarium, the Horrible histories boat tour, maybe a museum?
Have booked to stay in the Paddington area. I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what would be best to add into what I have already planned/advice on whether my plans are feasible or not?!
Thanks in advance.

well, Harry Potter studios aren't in London so do be aware of that.

Horrible Histories boat tour is great and so is Matilda! Aquarium is awful, haven't been to Skrek Adventure but it gets very mixed reviews. Tower of London is brilliant and very close to the Horrible Histories boat tour - have seen the Tower Bridge experience recommended too but haven't done that either. Looks fun, though.

If you're in Paddington you could do the boat trip from Little Venice to Camden.

I wouldn’t bother with the aquarium- there are nicer ones in loads of other locations.

A great day with kids is on the south back - go to the Golden Hinde www.goldenhinde.co.uk/ - full scale reconstruction of Francis drake’s ship. Or - yay we’re on a pirate ship mateys (depending on what gets your kids going!!). Then you can head to borough market for all the food. And the tate modern on the south bank is huge and impressive if you’re nearby - you can get on a river boat transport to get there.

Legoland is amazing and we love it there. Take sandwiches and eat in the queues, and you can have food in the cafes for tea before leaving.

Never done the shrek thing. Take them on the top of a double decker bus and then go to a v tasty cafe for cakes or to Chinatown for food? (I think most of my ideas are food related )

Shrek is great! And it's right next to the London Eye.

well, Harry Potter studios aren't in London so do be aware of that.

This is a very good point! How are you getting about? Legoland Windsor is in the middle of parkland - are you on site or are there buses or taxis? (We always just drive there). And then you wouldn’t want to go all the way into London before going over to Harry Potter - it’s right out to the north.

We did London last summer, the kids loved London Zoo and the Princess Diana Memorial Park. Also did a river cruise to Greenwich, went up the Sky Garden but they were generally pretty excited just going on the tube and walking around!

Another way of thinking about it is what do your kids already know about London? Eg have they seen any bits in films or learnt about anything in school that would make it more interesting to see in real life?
For example, there are bits of Paddington 2 filmed on Tower bridge - so they might recognise it. Or even just going to see Buckingham palace from the outside- not terribly exciting but it’s v famous and they might like to see it. Or the London Eye / Big Ben etc.

Harry Potter Studio is near Watford, 20 miles north-west of London. You'd need to get a train from Euston and then a shuttle bus. Fast trains take about 20 minutes, slow trains nearly an hour. Shuttle bus is 15 minutes but I don't know the frequency. Probably allows 2 hours in total to be on the safe side.

www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/getting-here/

So Day 3 will be mostly travelling into London to get to your hotel and then travelling to the Harry Potter Studio.

The changing of the guard at Buckingham palace is worth a look. I think it takes place every other morning at about 11:00 but there's a website giving the days and times. That's right by St James Park which has loads of wildlife and a brilliant playground to burn off some energy. From there, the West End (lots of cool shops like the M&M store) and Covent Garden (street entertainers) are easily walkable; or you can get on a boat from Westminster Pier down to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. If you're not fussed about the commentary then just get on the Thames Clipper (commuter boat) as you see the same sights as the tourist boats for a fraction of the price.

Don't discount the interest of just hopping about on the tube and seeing Big Ben, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, maybe a normal boat ride up to Greenwich or going to watch the street performers in Covent Garden. It sounds like you are cramming a LOT in that is prebooked and expensive and they are going to be knackered and might not enjoy it all. As the pp said, Harry Potter is in Watford but its not too hard to get too via Euston station. re travelling on the tube, you can just use your contactless card to tap in and out and shove the kids ahead of you through the gates (use the wide ones at the side).

Hi,
Id reccommend a day in south kensington to head to the science museum, particularly the wonder lab (all need tickets), could do natural history museum and I'd really reccommended a couple of hrs at the Princess Diana memorial playground.

I depending on where you're visiting I probably wouldn't stay in Paddington. It isn't a very nice area, no vibe, not really any nice restaurants, and is a pain to get to and from. Would opt for somewhere more central like West end, south kensington or south bank so you can at least walk to some attractions.

Have a great time!!

Don't underestimate how much walking you'll end up doing and how tiring that can be.

When we took our DC for the first time we did one of the open top bus tours which was fantastic as you get to see all the main attractions and hear about them on the commentary via earphones. The added bonus was you could get on and off the buses at their various main stops if you wanted to spend longer anywhere , plus you had "free" tickets for a boat trip tour too.

We bought our tickets using Tesco Clubcard vouchers (not sure if they still do them for these tours) so if you have anything like this see if there are any discounts available.

Are you doing 2 days at Legoland?

I depending on where you're visiting I probably wouldn't stay in Paddington. It isn't a very nice area, no vibe, not really any nice restaurants, and is a pain to get to and from. Would opt for somewhere more central like West end, south kensington or south bank so you can at least walk to some attractions.

When was the last time you were in Paddington?
It's only minutes from Kensington Gardens with the Peter Pan statue and the Princess Diana memorial playground and Hyde Park with Princess Diana memorial fountain and the boating lake.
It's on the Circle, District, Bakerloo, Hammersmith and City and Central (from Lancaster Gate) lines. Mainline station for train to Windsor and easy to get to Euston. Plenty of buses as well so not at all difficult to get to and from.
Lots of restaurants nearby, some good some not so good.
An new amouse bouche is the Man in the Clock in Eastbourne Terrace opposite the west side of the station.

Walk through the park for the museums in South Ken - you'll have to pre-book in the holidays.

Urbanbuddha I live in Kensington and am in Hyde Park at the playgrounds at least a couple of times a week. I occasionally work in an office at Edgewater Road so walk right through Paddington quite often.
If near Queensway it'd be fine.

Geranium,
Baffled that you've managed to miss the tube stations.

Wow, so many useful responses, thanks so much for taking the time to get back to me. Sounds like we should give the aquarium a miss anyway so that's one thing to cross off my list. Very good point about cramming in too many planned activities and maybe overtiring the kids too.

@Talipesmum

well, Harry Potter studios aren't in London so do be aware of that.

This is a very good point! How are you getting about? Legoland Windsor is in the middle of parkland - are you on site or are there buses or taxis? (We always just drive there). And then you wouldn’t want to go all the way into London before going over to Harry Potter - it’s right out to the north.

Staying about a mile away from legoland so was planning on a taxi to and from it.

As PP say, do be very careful about packing too much in. That's a lot of schlepping about already and your kids may get overwhelmed. Mine needed a day to recover after Legoland, ditto Harry Potter studios.
I'd build in some free time for pottering about, eating icecreams, shambling through parks, Hamleys, Covent Garden, walking along the South Bank etc

Sorry to put a dampener on your plans but Legoland is nowhere near London and nor is Harry Potter, so the reality is you’ll only be spending day and evening 4 in London which is only enough to do a bare minimum…and I’d imagine you’ll be exhausted. I’d have a think about replanning if you properly want to do London. Legoland is just a theme park, I’d skip that and see some history!

We went in the summer with our ds8, he loved the entertainment by the wheel and the park there but was unimpressed by the actual wheel( could have saved £64 there 😫) . He loved the cable cars at Greenwich we paid the bit extra to go in the interactive bit after but still loads cheaper than the wheel . Definitely do the museums - science & world. If they need some downtime and you fancy an hours break head to the Samsung shop , it's free no pressure to buy anything and the kids can game on enormous screens . We went when it was raining and it was a godsend ,I read a book while dh and ds played .

Legoland is Windsor and Harry Potter is Leavesden near Watford, so neither is in London.

Always carry some drinks and snacks around with you.

Places can look a long way apart on a tube map, but in reality can be quite close together.

If you going to London for the first time, then you must see ‘the sights’ - Buckingham palace, Big Ben, ttealfer square etc. The changing of the guard aren’t on every day.

It may be fun to get a book such as ‘I Spy’ or ‘Katie in London’
Katie in London - James Mayhew
I spy

The Natural history museum is good (check to see if you need to book]].

Harrods and Hamleys are always a good shout also.

I think 2 days will be too much at LL.

I would do;

Fly down Day 0 and stay locally to LL (look up Coppid Beech hotel, has a pool)

Day 1 - Arrive at LL, in summer opens till 7pm
Stay on site hotel overnight

Day 2 - LL till 2pm (early entry from 9am)
Make way into London by 5pm
Matilda show in eve at 7pm

Day 3 - HP tour, say 10am slot, head back to London at 2pm (4 hours is enough)

Night 3/Day 4 AM; do some touristy things like Covent Garden/Leicester Sq/Hamleys

Enjoy and hope you have a credit card, it's gonna be expensive!

Taxi will be fine and will save you the parking charges! Worth getting there around 9am, you can look around the shop and get through the bag checks etc to get in, then be ready by the gates to barrel down to your top choice rides when the gates open at 10. When you get tired with waiting in queues it’s nice to take a break in the big playground or mini land. Hope you have a great time!

bloody hell @seven7sisters - Into London by 5, get to and check into hotel, eat and back to theatre for 7, after a day at legoland - they'll be fast asleep in very expensive seats. Won't be in bed before 10 then would need to be up at 7 to get to HP by 10. In theory that's all doable in an Anneka Rice Challenge kind of way but none of it will be fun. Honestly OP I think a big rethink of what to plan in and what do just make up as you go along is needed. There's so much brilliant stuff but none of it is going anywhere - pace yourselves.